


brother

by Greet



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'm on a seventeen kick lets go, Inaccurate portrayal but whatever, M/M, Minghao's back injury, Platonic Relationships, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 02:15:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14415465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greet/pseuds/Greet
Summary: whump prompt challenge | dialogue"I wouldn't have done that if I knew you were hurt!"In which Minghao is terrified of letting the members down when his back injury flares up, and he ponders his relationship with Hong Jisoo.





	brother

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mainvocalrocky (infinityxu)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinityxu/gifts).



Minghao considered Jisoo a close friend. When he came in to the group before debut, Jisoo had been one of the first people to formally greet him, his head bowed and smile wide. He didn’t hesitate to pull out an acoustic guitar, resting it on his knee and singing some foreign tune Minghao didn’t understand. He had a nice voice- it was soft and comforting. His korean was just as broken as Minghao’s was. It comforted him knowing that he wasn’t the only one that had to struggle through the language barrier; Jisoo had always been adamant about the two of them studying and practicing together, his laugh gentle and smile encouraging as he complimented how much progress Minghao made over the months. 

The two of them always had some kind of unspoken yet strong bond. They weren’t necessarily clung to each other like some of the other members, but they managed to pick up on their own little signals and respond to them, no matter what. Most of the time, Minghao was grateful, because he could see when Jisoo was uncomfortable or upset, and the same for Minghao, but in this moment, he wished that he never met Jisoo. He knew it was rash to say, but the last thing he wanted to be was a burden to his members. 

His back was killing him for a few days now, and each dancing practice put more strain on the sore muscles than before. He figured it was just soreness from the new choreography they were drilling, and he asked Jihoon to ice his back one day while he sprawled on his front across the couch. However, each day that went by, his back wasn’t getting any better, and the pain seemed to creep down further into his muscles until he felt like his entire wiring was off. 

Minghao knew he should’ve taken a break; he was a performer, after all, and he knew his body’s limits. But their comeback was around the corner, and he knew he had to pour all of his effort in to make it one of their best. Each member, he knew, was a fundamental component to their thirteen-piece unit, and he refused to become the weakest link. 

Back when he met Jisoo and joined Seventeen, he was the weakest link. He could speak hardly any korean, his footwork was sloppy, his nerves jumbled in his throat, but over the time he spent with the boys, he finally found a place among them. He, like every one of them, was a vital piece. He refused to let himself be the broken cog that caused the entire machine’s destruction. 

\----

That evening, he excused himself from the dorms to go to the practice rooms. He knew he was slacking off during the group rehearsals, playing around with Seokmin or Seungkwan just to take his mind off of the pain in his back, so he had to get some alone time in to make sure he was actually nailing the choreography to the best of his ability.

He knew he shouldn’t have done it. For the sake of the group, fans, and company, he should be upfront about his injury, taking the time they have before their comeback stage to rest, but something within him didn’t let him have that break. There was too much at stake; they could lose music show wins if every person wasn’t at their best. And Minghao hated to admit that he started getting snippy with some of the other members when he, in fact, was the worst performing one in that room. He couldn’t let the guilt stop eating away at him after he snapped at Jisoo for getting off of the beat. He couldn’t forget the shocked, wounded look in his large eyes as he halted, Seungcheol stopping the music and looking to Minghao with just as much shock. Silence fell upon the room then, and he couldn’t breathe, staring at Jisoo with his heart stuck in his chest.

“You can’t talk to your hyung like that,” Seungcheol chided, stepping between the two with an authoritative yet gentle expression. Minghao’s stomach churned at the memory. 

Jisoo stepped up, though, and put his hand on Seungcheol’s shoulder. “It’s okay, hyung,” he chided, the wounded look in his expression faded and replaced with the same, soft smile he always had. “Minghao’s just trying to make the dance look the best it can. I’ll try harder.”

Minghao didn’t know what to say after that, and he found he couldn’t even look Jisoo in the eye that night as they sat across each other at the dinner table. Jisoo seemed to hold no anger for Minghao, which surprised him deeply as he offered him part of his dessert, smile wide. He couldn’t accept it- not after what he said to his hyung.

Minghao slipped his jacket off, tossing it to the side of the practice room, watching himself in the mirror. His entire posture was off, shoulders hunched as it hurt his lower back too much to completely straighten up. He tried stretching back, his arms clasped behind his back, his teeth grit. A short, agonizing flicker of pain trailed up his back, seizing in a sharp cramp that rippled through his shoulder blades and upper arms. He gasped and doubled over, his arms cradled around his front. The pain seized and eventually trickled away, leaving him gasping and trembling on his shaking legs. 

He knew enough about his body to know that this was bad, but he simply waited too long. He couldn’t back up now. So as he collected himself, he walked over to the soundboard and played the track, imagining as if the other members were beside him. He never took his eyes off of his own reflection, following scrawny legs hidden by baggy sweatpants, scanning for any minimal flaw. The longer he spent in front of that mirror, eyes burning and lungs wheezing, the less he noticed his hunched shoulders. He moved with fluidity and grace, as he always did, despite the pain. The more he practiced, the better he became at masking the sudden gasps that rippled through him if he turned too much the wrong way.

Resigned, Minghao acknowledged that he’d probably have to seek rest and treatment after their music show week- at least then they’d have a bit more time to relax, and he wouldn’t be holding anyone back. If he could just get through this week…

He didn’t hear the door open to the practice room, nor did he see the curious figure duck inside the door as he was too focused on his own reflection. He stepped over, transitioning into the next move when suddenly, the beat beneath his feet was gone, and the only sound was his own panting and the screech of his sneaker against the floor. He flinched, whipping his head around to face the sound board, only to find Jisoo standing there, the phone in his hand with a sheepish, sleepy smile on his face. Minghao’s heart plummeted into his stomach. It was still difficult to look the latter in the eye, knowing how he had lost his patience. 

Minghao also couldn’t help but notice that Jisoo was wearing exercise apparel, but he had been wearing his pajamas before Minghao left. What was he doing?

Jisoo fiddled with the phone and auxiliary cord for a moment, gnawing at his lip as if he was trying to figure out what to say, his eyes flickering up and down Minghao in a way that made him squirm. He finally spoke, his voice sleepy. “Mind if I practice with you?”

 

He blinked, eyes wide as he looked at Jisoo. His eyes were nothing but warm and expecting, but Minghao could see nothing but the hurt in his eyes from the other day. He couldn’t fathom why Jisoo would want to practice with him after how cruel he had been in that moment, and the fact that his hiding of his pain was now put the test, Minghao never felt so nervous. But he couldn’t just decline him.

“Sure, yeah,” Minghao mumbled, stepping aside. “Are you sure you’re not tired?”

Jisoo smiled and shed his own jacket, fixing the baseball cap on his head. He stepped in line with Minghao. “I would ask you the same thing,” he said. “But I need to work on this dance, and I figured if I could get you to help, I’d learn a lot faster.”

Minghao scowled. “Hyung, you know I never meant-”

Jisoo shushed him instantly. “I know, Minghao,” he said. “We’re all stressed for the comeback, and I made a dumb mistake. You know a lot more about dancing than I do, so I should take your advice.”

He couldn’t find a response to Jisoo, so he only nodded and walked over to start playing the music again. Jisoo shifted his feet, standing diagonal from Minghao and following his movements as the song began. Minghao watched the both of them move in the mirror, listening to Jisoo hum to the music behind him. His back was killing him, but he kept up to the best of his ability, Jisoo stepping in time with him. 

Once they got to the bridge, where Jisoo missed the move before, Minghao noticed his hyung stumble again, his face crinkling up as he tripped over his feet. He paused, turning around to look at him with a furrowed brow. “You’re still having trouble with that part, hyung?”

 

Jisoo laughed, his expression flushed red with embarrassment. He toyed with the bill of his cap. “Yeah, I don’t know why, I just…”

Minghao shook his head, approaching Jisoo. “No, it’s okay,” he assured. “The footwork is tricky. It took me a bit to get it down too.” 

He took Jisoo by the wrist, gently pulling him up to stand beside him. He counted it out for Jisoo, crossing his ankles over in a quick exchange, spinning on his left foot before stepping back, his body curling forward in the execution of the move. Jisoo followed him, the cross-over still bothering him as he struggled to make the move change in time. Minghao could tell that he was getting frustrated with himself, cheeks red either from embarrassment or exhaustion. He took a break, the pain throbbing and spiking throughout his entire back, but he wouldn’t stop until Jisoo nailed the move. The latter didn’t seem to want to stop any time soon, and Minghao didn’t want to either, not until he could somehow make up how cruel he had been. 

Minghao wasn’t sure how long they practiced that one part, but they were both panting and red-faced by the time Jisoo went over to play the song over- to see if he could get it done in one go. His back felt absolutely devastated, the pain no longer fading as each movement only made the pain more excruciating. He was missing beats left and right, and he could only hope and pray that Jisoo wasn’t noticing, as he saw the latter too focused on his own footwork to be paying much attention to what Minghao was doing. Each bend or turn made Minghao want to curl over and vomit, the pain radiating down to the backs of his thighs as the intense ache took over his entire body. 

The song seemed to take hours, but once the bridge came up, Minghao turned his attention to Jisoo in the mirror, staring at him in hopes that he finally got the move down- that way he could collapse on the ground and go back home and crawl into bed.

Luckily enough, Jisoo executed the move with such ease that Minghao couldn’t help the little flurry of pride that warmed his entire chest. He knew how frustrated Jisoo had been with himself for such a small thing, but he was beyond pleased that he pulled it off and that he was able to help him. 

They didn’t even bother finishing out the rest of the song, Jisoo jumping up on his toes with his arms raised over his head as he cried out in victory. Minghao turned, a joyful smile plastered across his face as he clapped, watching Jisoo in amusement as he rambled on to himself in english, eyes bright and cheeks flushed and sweaty. He hardly noticed when Jisoo ran up to him, arms hooking around his back and pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. 

Minghao’s vision went white. The pain exploded throughout his entire back, and he felt as if his spinal cord snapped in half, all of his muscles spasming and seizing. His knees crashed against the ground, and the arms around his body pulled back. 

“Minghao!? Oh God, Minghao!”  
He gasped, kneeling forward and reaching back to clutch at his tender back. Black dots danced in front of his vision, his head spinning in dizzying circles. His back never hurt this badly before, and he was sure for a moment that he was going to die, the pain so intense that he thought he was going to vomit. He felt flustered hands dancing over his shoulders.

“Minghao, what’s wrong?” Jisoo sounded like he was crying, but he couldn’t lift his head to meet him in the eye. “Minghao, please. Answer me.”

Minghao swallowed his heart which was caught in his throat, hands trembling as he reached forward to grab at Jisoo’s sleeves. “My back. I messed it up- I dunno…”

“What?” Jisoo gasped. “I wouldn’t have done that if I knew you were hurt!”

This is exactly what Minghao wanted to avoid. He wanted nothing more than to not be the broken cog, but that was exactly what he was. Because of his own cowardice and fear of expressing weakness, he ended up worse-off than before, and now his hyung and the rest of the members were going to suffer because of his mistake. Jisoo didn’t deserve to be this upset about him; he didn’t deserve to be upset period. Now, he was too hurt to even look up, and they were supposed to start promotions next week. He messed up.

“I’ve been hiding it,” Minghao croaked. “I didn’t…”

Jisoo sniffed and pulled him close, his hands weak against Minghao’s skin, and he could tell the hyung was scared to hurt him. “You idiot. You can be really hurt.”

Minghao didn’t have to strength to say much else. His head pounded, but nothing could compare to the agony in his back. He felt Jisoo shift against him, hearing his voice murmuring through the ringing in his ears. He was calling someone.

“Hyung, I don’t know what happened,” he said, voice thick with tears. Minghao’s heart ached. He didn’t deserve to cry. “He just collapsed. He’s hurt- call the manager.”

He couldn’t remember much after that.

\--- 

Minghao woke up in the hospital in the middle of the night, his head spinning. The pain was gone, but the uncomfortable prickling at the back of his hand brought his attention to the IV tube taped to his arm. 

He rolled his head to the left, flinching as he saw Jisoo curled up in a small wooden chair beside his bed, still wearing the same clothes he wore when they practiced. His face was bare and red, his cheeks flushed and eyes puffy. Minghao frowned, his eyelids incredibly heavy. \

It broke his heart to see Jisoo there, his face gentle and weathered from the probably long, exhausting hours he spent waiting by Minghao’s bedside. By the clock on the wall, he figured it had been about five hours since he collapsed, and he wondered if Jisoo had left his side for even a minute. He hated to think that his hyung felt guilty; he simply hadn’t known what Minghao had tried so desperately hard to hide from them all.

The pain of watching one of his closest friends so drained and disturbed was worse than any pain in his back. He realized now that hiding it wasn’t worth any of the pain, and in that moment he thought of the young face of Jisoo looking at him from where he sat with his acoustic guitar, smile nervous but bright as he played him a song. 

The soft humming of the heart monitor beside his bed almost lulled him back to sleep before he heard Jisoo shift beside him. He looked over. Jisoo moaned, sitting up and stretching his neck to the side as his swollen eyelids fluttered open, revealing glossy irises. 

His exhausted face perked up after he noticed Minghao staring at him, eyes wide. “Minghao,” he gasped, sitting forward, his expression restless and nervous. “You’re awake. How...How do you feel?”

Minghao smiled at the concern. “I’m..I’m okay,” he said. “Not in a lot of pain.”

Jisoo’s expression fell, features crestfallen. “I’m so sorry, Minghao,” he whimpered. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I-”

“Brother, don’t apologize,” Minghao interjected, shifting stiffly on the bed. “You didn’t know. It’s okay.”

Jisoo frowned, looking down at his hand with watery eyes. “Why didn’t you say something?” he sniffed. “I made you keep practicing with me… I made it worse.”

“I wanted our comeback week to be perfect,” he whispered. “I made a mistake, Jisoo, I’m sorry. Where are the others?”

 

Jisoo reached up to dab at the corners of his eyes, swallowing thickly. “The PD wanted them back at the dorm, and I begged him to stay here.”

“What about our stages?” Minghao croaked, glancing up at him. “What are we going to do?”

Jisoo shook his head. “Don’t worry about that, brother,” he smiled sadly. “It matters if you’re healthy first. We can adjust to things later. The fans, the band, and the company will understand. Please, just rest now.”

Nodding, Minghao relaxed into the bed and released a shaking breath. “I love you, brother,” he mumbled.

“I love you too, Minghao.”


End file.
